ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with examining digital health use, but moves into a different direction by discussing more in-depth research investigating people's lived experiences of digital health and implications for selfhood, embodiment and social relations. An important element of the ethos of contemporary online discussion forums and social media platforms is the expectation that users divulge details about themselves in collaborative efforts to establish social ties and a sense of community. The affordances for social connections that online media offer are central to their emotional resonances and meanings. As in discourses attempting to represent the patient as a 'consumer', contemporary writings on patient engagement assume a rational, emotionally disengaged and 'empowered' subject who is motivated and equipped with the economic and cultural capital to engage in self-monitoring and self-care. Telemedical and telehealth devices have disciplinary and surveillant capabilities, making specific demands of patients and workers.
